Today my hubby is flying to New York to run the Marathon. It’s been a gruelling 16 weeks of training for him, running after long days at work and spending weekend either doing, or recovering from, long runs. As a family it’s not easy either; it cuts into the precious family time we have which is… Read More The New York Marathon and finding family time

Every year it seems the fireworks for Bonfire night start earlier and earlier and if you have a pet of any sort it is no fun. We have two Basset Hounds who are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to coping with fireworks. Darcey on the left is completely fearless, we’ve had… Read More How to help your dog this bonfire night

Knowing the location of my first ever open water swim was going to be the highest beach in England and in late April, I had a bit of an inkling it wasn’t going to be warm. This been said, I was still excited when we trekked from the car park to Gaddings Dam in Lancashire… Read More Open water swimming – what it’s really like

My Instagram feed is currently a barrage motivational quotes from over -achievers consistently running marathons and climbing mountains. I just can’t seem to get away from memes telling me to ‘never give up’ or ‘you can do this’ or a personal favourite ‘you don’t get this ass by sitting on it’ There is a stream… Read More Toxic Instagram and why we all need a duvet day

Two years ago I bribed my son into going to Scouts – yes that’s right I paid him £2. I’d spent months badgering him to go and he flatly refused so my only option was cold hard cash. Predictably after just one session he loved it and within two weeks he was setting off on… Read More Why we need the Scouting movement now more than ever

It is a momentous weekend for us as we become the proud owner of a brand new teenager. Eye rolling and attitude aside, it is actually quite nice having a 13 year old around and, although I miss the years when he was a little boy, there’s much to celebrate in his coming of age.… Read More The proud owner of the brand new teenager!

In the dark depths of the Yorkshire winter while planning holidays I thought Loch Lomond would be a great place for a short summer break at the end of the school year. What I didn’t account for was that I’d chosen the only rainy weekend in a summer of seemingly endless scorching sunshine. But being… Read More Short break review – Loch Lomond our Scottish adventure